puerto rican

Map of the proposed Route 75 “Midtown Connector” highway in Newark, prepared by the Division of City Planning. Highway construction in northern urban areas has historically involved the destruction of predominantly Black communities for the benefit of predominantly white suburban commuters. Route 75 was one of the most heavily-contested commuter highway proposals in Newark. Despite years of opposition from Black and Puerto Rican communities in Newark, city officials continued to push forward with plans for the highway’s construction, before finally abandoning the project.

Article from the Advance, an African-American newspaper, covering the proposed construction of Routes 75, 78, and 280 through Newark. Highway construction in northern urban areas has historically involved the destruction of predominantly Black communities for the benefit of predominantly white suburban commuters. Route 75 was one of the most heavily-contested commuter highway proposals in Newark.

In this essay, Stanley Winters, a veteran organizer in the Clinton Hill neighborhood, describes the interrelated nature of urban renewal politics and struggles for civil rights. Because the vast majority of urban renewal policy makers were white, Black and Puerto Rican communities had little representation in projects that they were disproportionately impacted by. Winters also argues that urban renewal projects were being utilized for the benefit of business interests, rather than community interests.

Headline from an article in the Advance, an African-American newspaper, covering the proposed construction of Routes 75, 78, and 280 through Newark. Highway construction in northern urban areas has historically involved the destruction of predominantly Black communities for the benefit of predominantly white suburban commuters. Route 75 was one of the most heavily-contested commuter highway proposals in Newark.

Police report forwarded to Newark Legal Services Project director, Oliver Lofton, from Newark Police Director Dominick Spina on June 19, 1967. The report was based on information provided by the City Clerk regarding alleged plans of the UCC Area Boards 2 and 3 to bring the Black Panthers to Newark. The report names several influential Black and Puerto Rican community leaders, including Lofton, Robert Curvin, Louise Epperson, Honey Ward, George Richardson, and Jesse Allen, as accomplices to a planned “revolt” by the “Spanish and Negro population” on June 27. The UCC and other community organizations in Newark were continuously subjected to official surveillance and later blamed for the outbreak of the 1967 Newark rebellion. — Credit: Junius Williams Papers

Letter from United Community Corporation (UCC) members George Richardson and Hilda Hidalgo, to Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., seeking assistance in response to the City Council Committee’s investigation of the UCC in 1965. Many Black and Puerto Rican ommunity members, like Richardson and Hidalgo, argued that the Committee’s investigation was an attempt to “bring the anti-poverty program under the control of the Mayor and the City Council.” — Credit: Newark Public Library

Issue of the African-American newspaper, Advance, from January 6, 1966. The issue contains coverage of demands made by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) for the dismissal of Police Director Dominick Spina. CORE demanded Spina’s ouster in a meeting with Mayor Addonizio after a Black teenager, Walter Mathis, was fatally shot by Newark police. This issue also details several high-profile cases of police brutality from 1962-1966, a period in which Newark’s Black and Puerto Rican communities continuously advocated for police reform and accountability to no avail from City Hall. — Credit: Newark Public Library

Excerpt from the antipoverty program proposal of the Blazer Council Work Program. The Blazer Program provided job training for Newark’s poor Black and Puerto Rican communities to prepare workers for skilled employment in six areas: food preparation-catering, upholstery, automotive skills, floor polishing and scraping, dressmaking, and renovation and repair. — Credit: Junius Williams Papers

A view of the Blazer Work Training Program’s automotive program from the United Community Corporation’s 1966-1967 Program Report. The Blazer Program provided job training to Newark’s poor Black and Puerto Rican communities to prepare workers for skilled employment. — Credit: New Jersey State Archives

Flyer distributed by the Newark Coordinating Council (NCC) and the NAACP announcing a rally to organize around employment discrimination in the building and construction trades in Newark. Despite momentous protests at the Barringer High School construction site two years earlier, Newark’s Black and Puerto Rican communities still struggled to gain equal employment opportunities in the building and construction industries. — Credit: Newark Public Library